Frostbite
by crono23
Summary: Going out into the cold isn't a good idea, but sometimes a friend can make it bearable.


"Susan, would you come down here?"

Sue looked up from her computer in annoyance at the sound of her mother's voice from downstairs. Her help was often required around the house, but she by no means enjoyed it. Reluctantly, she closed her laptop and hauled herself out of her chair, walking out of her room and descending the stairs to the kitchen.

Her mom sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by a mess of papers, among other things. Sue had seen the same scene many times before: her mother's job meant wading through a clutter of business papers was an all-too-common occurrence.

Upon hearing her daughter enter the kitchen, Sue's mom spun around to face her, letter held in her hand, "Would you mind delivering this to the post office?"

"Can't you do it yourself?" Sue asked.

Her mother sighed, "Do I look like I could? I've been working all day, I can't stop now. It's just a simple letter."

"Fine," Sue's face fell, but she had no other choice. She unenthusiastically took the letter, and walked past her mom to the entryway.

"And wear a coat!" Her mother's voice called from the kitchen.

Sue silently rolled her eyes, "Mom, it's not supposed to snow today!"

"It'll still be cold, just wear one anyway!" Came the response.

 _I'll be fine,_ Sue told herself, and opened the door to leave the house, after taking a few seconds to make it seem like she had put on a coat.

Immediately the cold started to bite at her. It wasn't very cold out, but there was a light wind that made it slightly worse. Her fur coat gave a slight protection against the cold, but Sue still had to bring her arms close to her body in a meager attempt to keep warm.

 _Well, I can still run to keep warm,_ She told herself, only to quickly abandon the idea as she walked down the sidewalk. A sheet of ice had apparently formed overnight, putting any sort of fast movement out of the question.

Slightly nervous, Sue looked back at her house. She considered going back for a coat, but her mom would definitely know she forgot something if she did, and she really wasn't in the mood to anger her mom. Besides, the post office was only a few blocks away, and it wasn't like she hadn't been through worse. Braving the cold, Sue continued her gradual walk down the sidewalk. 

* * *

_This was a very bad idea..._

Sue had just arrived at the post office. Her job was almost half-done, but at a price: her teeth were chattering, her entire body shivered, and her lungs stung slightly when she breathed in the freezing air. To make matters worse, it had begun to snow lightly, and the wind had picked up significantly.

The colder weather was bad enough, but somehow it managed to get worse. As she arrived at the top of the staircase in front of the post office, Sue noticed the inside was dark. It was closed. She could still deliver the letter via a mailbox, but she wouldn't have minded waiting a little longer if it meant enjoying the heat of the building.

But there was unfortunately no other option. Now thoroughly scared, Sue dropped the letter into the closest mailbox, and began the arduous journey home.

Not even a third of the way through the return home, Sue became to get genuinely scared she wouldn't make it. The inability to run meant she had no way of warming herself other than keeping her arms glued to her body, and occasionally rubbing her hands together.

There was some sort of silver lining to it though. Even if she did collapse from the cold, someone would definitely take notice and call an ambulance. Not that it was a completely comforting thought though. Even if her mom wasn't furious with her poor choices, frostbite was not something Sue wanted to deal with.

A car passed down the snow-filled street, but Sue hardly noticed. The intense cold was beginning to mess with her mind and her body. She had enough sense to know if she didn't find something warm soon then bad things would happen, but that thought was also starting to fade.

Now firmly shaken with fear, Sue began to look around her. Not many of her friends lived in the area, and the cold made her forget where some of them lived, but she'd rather end up an uninvited guest than a life-sized ice sculpture.

After what felt like a year of walking, Sue managed to spot Paulo's house through the snow and her cold-muddled brain. Normally she wouldn't want anything to do with Paulo, but the alternative was frostbite and probably death. Without a second thought, Sue began walking up the sidewalk to his house.

Meanwhile, Paulo was having a good time, even if he was somewhat bored. His dad had left a few minutes earlier to stock up on groceries, leaving Paulo with the whole house to himself. At first he was eager to abuse that fact, but he quickly realized there was not much to actually do, and so settled on watching TV while sipping from a mug of hot cocoa he had made for himself. It wasn't much, but he found it enjoyable. His comfort was cut short, however, as he heard a feeble knock at the door.

At first he thought he imagined it, due to the small amount of force behind it. But whoever was out there knocked again, loud enough for Paulo to realize it was in fact a person. Still, he had wrapped himself in a warm, sky-blue blanket and was not entirely willing to get up to investigate what could possibly be some salesman or prankster.

But the knock persisted for several seconds, eventually convincing Paulo to haul himself off the couch and explore the source of the knocking. Bracing himself for the cold outside air, Paulo opened the door, not at all expecting who stood before him.

"...Please help..." Sue whispered weakly.

Paulo's eyes widened as he stared at her, trying to process what he was seeing, "J-jesus, Sue, what the hell happened?" He finally managed to force out.

Sue said nothing, instead walking past him into the living room and taking a seat on his couch. Paulo shut the door behind and and stood in the doorframe dividing the entryway and living room, speaking up only once Sue grabbed his mug of cocoa, "Hey, that's mine!"

Sue immediately paused, looking up at Paulo with a crestfallen look on her face, "...I was just trying to warm my hands," She responded quietly.

Suddenly overcome with a slight sense of guilt, Paulo brought a hand to his chin as he tried to think of something to do, "Uhhh. Here, I'll make some for you alright?"

Sue nodded silently, but said nothing more. Paulo considered saying something more, but left for the kitchen after a few seconds. He quickly set upon making another cup of hot cocoa for Sue, but he couldn't shake the sight of her looking so pitiful.

After taking a few minutes to fix up another cup of hot cocoa, Paulo returned to the living room, noting that Sue had wrapped herself in the same blanket he had used earlier, and had begun to watch whatever was playing on the TV screen. Though as he came closer, he noticed she was still shivering slightly, and she didn't seem to pay much attention to his arrival until he set down the mug in front of her. Graciously she took the mug and began to drink from it.

Paulo stared in surprise at Sue's sudden ability to down a mug of the boiling hot beverage, "You do realize that was boiling hot a few moments ago, right?"

Sue removed the mug from her mouth and stared at him, "It was?" A few seconds passed and suddenly her eyes suddenly grew wide, and her expression slightly pained, "...Oh! It was."

Quickly, Sue set down the mug, taking a moment to suffer through the sudden sensation she felt in her throat. Once she recovered, she picked the mug up again to try and warm her hands, but did not do anything more than gently sip from it occasionally.

"So, uhhh," Paulo finally spoke up, "What on earth were you doing out there?"

Sue looked up at him upon hearing him speak, "My mom wanted a letter delivered. Thought I wouldn't need a coat."

"In this weather?"

"Wasn't snowing when I left," She attempted to defend herself, "Guess I should've brought it anyway."

Yeah, no shit," He responded with a hint of anger, "You're lucky you're not dead!"

Sue flinched at his harsh words and looked away, "Why do you care?"

"Why the hell _wouldn't_ I care?" Paulo paused, and took a moment to calm down, "Look, I know we haven't seen eye-to-eye often, but I wouldn't want you, well, _dead_. You're not that bad."

"I suppose," She answered in uncertainty, taking another sip from her cocoa. Paulo considered saying something more, but instead just stared at her, becoming increasingly concerned with how cold she still seemed. Curiously he touched a finger to her cheek, immediately withdrawing it as he felt just how cold she really was.

It took a moment, but Sue quickly realized he had touched her. She looked over at him in slight surprise, seemingly expecting an answer from him. "Well uh, I knew you were cold, but not _that_ cold," He responded.

Sue just shivered slightly and drew the blanket closer to her, "Yeah..."

Paulo watched the pitiful display, while the urge to do something more increased, "Well, do you need anything else?"

"I don't suppose you have a heater anywhere?"

Paulo bit his lip, "'Fraid not...Just feel I should do something more though."

A tiny smile appeared on Sue's face, "Well, actually..." Her voice trailed off as she shuffled closer to Paulo. He tensed up, blush forming on his face as he felt her presence shift closer to him, but he wasn't going to disappoint her.

Gently, Paulo brought his arm around her shoulders. She still felt cold, but it was slightly better than it was before, and she had stopped shivering.

As they continued their embrace, however, Paulo began to take note of a quiet sound. A deep rumbling resonated from the girl next to him. At first he was confused, but quickly realized what it was, "Are you...purring?"

Sue tensed up, "Does it bother you?"

"Not exactly, but," He bit his lip, "I just find it kind of weird."

Her face fell, "Sorry..."

"Actually it's...kind of nice."

Sue didn't relax again immediately, but she gradually returned to purring softly, her head gently resting against Paulo's shoulder.

Their embrace lasted a few minutes longer, but slowly Sue grew warm enough to finally remove the blanket, "Well, thanks Paulo, but my mom's gonna worry if I stay any longer."

"Ah, before you do!" Paulo got up before her and quickly rushed into the entryway, returning shortly with a coat in his hand, "Take it."

"Paulo, my house isn't that far-"

"I insist," He persisted, "You can return it another time, but you're not going out there without it."

Sue considered refusing it, but quickly remembered why she was at Paulo's house in the first place. Graciously she took the coat and slipped it on as she followed Paulo into the entryway. It was rough and a size too big for her, but what mattered was that it was warm.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," She told him, blushing slightly as she smiled, "But thanks anyway."

"Yeah, anytime," He responded, only for his face to grow stern, "Just wear a coat next time."

Sue looked to the side in annoyance, "Believe me, I won't make that mistake again."

After waving goodbye to each other, Sue walked out the door into the cold winter air. Paulo watched, smiling to himself as he watched her walk down the sidewalk. Silently he closed the door and returned to the couch, feeling just a little warmer inside than before.

* * *

 **Nothing too noteworthy, just another light PauloxSue stuff. Not a TON of effort went into this, and it was lightly edited, but I feel it works well enough to deserve being a standalone.**


End file.
